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My Dirty Magick by Terry Mixon

When I think of New Orleans, I see past the pageantry and
into the way people live. Blood Debt is set just before the stock market crash
of 1929 and I wanted to imagine what a fantastical version of mob life would be
like in the roaring twenties.

In my universe, Voodoo is real, but I
didn’t want to go with the same kind of story that everyone writes about New Orleans. Instead, I
chose to return to the same character I wrote about in the first Dirty Magick
anthology and use blood magic.

My antihero, Al Blake, is an assassin, but
one with rules. First most, no women or children. When the people in his world
come into conflict with his limits, that’s when he gets mulish. This story puts
him in the unusual position of solving a murder rather carrying one out.

Al has to walk a line in giving the mob
what they want and being true to his honor. Some crime he sees as just the cost
of doing business. Other kinds require retribution. All of them need for him to
follow the deal to the letter.

It’s interesting to me how little people change when I insert
magic into the mix. They still seem to have the same motivations and desires.
And that’s what makes writing stories like this fun. Creating people that fit
the world, in this case the city, and seeing what happens when you cause them
trouble.

I really enjoyed exploring how a paid killer
with some specific morals related to children. And how he chose to teach the
lessons that a debt must be paid and contracts will be honored. That someone’s
word means something. Even when you’re a killer. Especially when you’re a
killer.

There are a ton of great stories in this
anthology. They run the gamut in time while showcasing one of the greatest
American cities. Come on down and visit.

Blood
Debt

Terry
Mixon

Excerpt
Blood Debt:

“I see.
Your boss created this situation, but arguably, you caused the deaths of these
people.”

“That’s
bull!” He turned toward Al, bringing his gun up.

Ready
for his move, Al twisted the gun from the man’s grasp and jabbed him with the
pin he’d just cleaned. The man jumped back, swearing.

Al
smiled without humor. “There’s a lesson in this, Marie. I want you to pay close
attention. Actions have consequences, even when you think you’ve done something
for the best reasons. And someone always pays a price.”

He
focused his will into the man’s blood and cast the same kind of spell the girl
had used to kill the men she’d held responsible for her mother’s death. It took
every ounce of his skill and power to do so without using a ritual and
pre-charged implements. It amazed him that Marie had killed with her will
alone.

The man
screamed and clawed at his eyes. “No! Please! Mercy!”

“I have
no mercy for you. Have some justice instead.”

The man
spouted blood in every direction and collapsed into a twitching heap. Al wiped
his face. Small droplets of blood covered him from head to toe. Marie hadn’t
escaped the spatter either. It felt fitting.

About
the Author:

Terry Mixon is a
former non-commissioned officer that served in the United States Army 101st
Airborne Division and also dedicated nearly two decades to providing direct
computer support to the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center at the
NASA Johnson Space Center supporting the Space Shuttle program, the
International Space Station, and other spaceflight projects. He lives in Texas
with his lovely wife and a pounce of cats.